Opera Italiana

Before he spent five weeks in Italy this summer, Michael Hamilton hadn't spoken a word of Italian.

But thanks to an Ohio State grant and La Musica Lirica—an intensive music program for American students—Hamilton was part of a group of Ohio State music students who performed Italian operas for the locals of Novafeltria in northern Italy.

"The highlight for me was definitely experiencing something that was so different from how we live here," Hamilton says.

Generation 1

Arts Dean Karen Bell's father couldn't imagine why she wanted to go to college. Ohio State graduate Keith Lofton was just a sophomore in college when his son was born. Undergraduate Deb Van Camp grew up not always knowing where grocery money was coming from.

Bell and Lofton are first-generation college graduates who recently talked about how they got to—and through—college. Van Camp is a current Ohio State student who serves on the university's Board of Trustees.

Helping women

Jen Lipthratt has worked as a tour guide in Europe and eastern Asia, studied at Sejong University in South Korea and the University of Georgia, and worked through the long and uncertain U.S. immigration process.

Now the South Korean native is working toward a degree in respiratory therapy at Ohio State, thanks in part to a Coca Cola Re-entry Scholarship for women who have interrupted their education. That extra money helps foot the bill for her son's care.